AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HISTORY GROUP NEWSLETTER ISSN 1443-4962 No. 30 December 2004 This issue compiled for the ANHG by Victor Isaacs ([email protected]) 30.1 COPY DEADLINE AND WEBSITE ADDRESS Deadline for next Newsletter: 15 February 2005. Send copy to the editor, Rod Kirkpatrick, at <[email protected]> or post to 13 Sumac St, Middle Park, Qld, 4074. Subscription details appear at end of Newsletter. [Number 1 appeared October 1999.] The Newsletter is online through the “Publications” link from the University of Queensland’s School of Journalism & Communication Website at www.uq.edu.au/journ-comm/ and through the ePrint Archives at the University of Queensland at http://eprint.uq.edu.au/ Barry Blair, of Tamworth, Rod Kirkpatrick, of Brisbane, and David Marsh, of Perth, have made significant contributions to this issue of the Newsletter. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS: METROPOLITAN 30.2 THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY – A DIFFERENT VIEW FOR ADELAIDE by Victor Isaacs The heading is taken from the masthead of Adelaide‘s new Sunday newspaper, which published its first issue on 19 September 2004. It is a possible precursor for even more newspaper competition in Adelaide, if plans for a new daily paper come to fruition (see item 28.3). The Independent Weekly (price $1.50) is certainly not a conventional Australian newspaper. In fact, its content is more like a weekly magazine. It contains little of what one expects in Sunday papers. An Australian Sunday paper that does not include sports results is, to say the least, unconventional. Also notably absent are television programs. The paper goes to press on Friday evenings, although it can be produced on Saturday nights for special occasions, such as elections and grand finals. A circulation of 15,000 is the aim (the Adelaide Sunday Mail sells 335,000). The first edition had a printing variously reported as 18,000 or 40,000 but was said to be a sell-out. Capital of $4million has been raised. As noted in item 29.19, the paper consists of a 16-page broadsheet section, inside which is a 16-page tabloid newsprint magazine. In the inaugural issue, half of the broadsheet pages (pages 1 to 5 and 12 to 16) and all of the tabloid pages, excluding pages 6-7 and 18-19, included colour. The layout is clear and modern. Nearly half of the first issue was advertising, although very little was from national advertisers. The Independent Weekly is edited by Alex Kennedy, once an adviser to Liberal Premier John Olson. She describes it as ―a tiny, niche publication‖. It is published by Solstice Media and printed by Rural Press Printing at Murray Bridge, SA. For the record, here is the content of the main section of issue no. 1: Page 1: Below a flash pointing to articles inside were three articles: Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 30 December 2004 Page 1 ―Twist in cabinet coup: Minister flirted with Canberra before tying the knot with Rann‖ a background piece about State National Party MP Karlene Maywald joining the State ALP Government as a Minister. ―They won‘t say, but it‘s a nobble by any other name‖ a comment, not news, article about the State Government‘s FOI practices, and ―New voice and a new choice‖ about The Independent Weekly (see below). pp.2 & 3, newsy articles pp.4 & 5, ―Election 2004‖ articles pp.6 & 7, Background articles, mainly one long piece about SA energy prices pp.8 & 9, ―Comment & Analysis‖ including Editorial pp.10, 11 & 12, ―Business & Money‖ p.13, Sport (i.e., two background articles) pp.14, 15 & 16, ―International‖ Four of the six articles in this article are from the Independent of London. In, the tabloid section, consisted of magazine-type features. Eleven of the 27 articles or features were from the London Independent. There were nearly four pages of real estate advertising, and a two-page ad for a car sales website associated with the Independent Weekly. The introductory page one article read: ―New voice and a new choice: … For the first time in a long time there is a different, locally owned voice in the Adelaide print media. The daunting shadow of the dominant publisher in this state looms across the advertising, distribution and readership landscape. They are very good and formidable newspaper publishers. But from now they don‘t entirely have the monopoly on local choice. Please don‘t confuse us as a competitor with daily paper or a Sunday paper. We are a complimentary weekly aimed at revealing news you may not see anywhere else and background detail and comment on issues and ideas through SA eyes. Our ownership in uncomplicated: our shareholders are all local people who share the same passion of having a paper with an Adelaide accent… We have affiliations with the award-winning London Independent newspaper… Agence France Press and the Fairfax papers… Isn‘t it good to have a choice? – Ian Meikle, chairman‖ The editorials in the inaugural issue, in part, said: ―A time for independent thinking … we believe there could rarely be a better time for another point of view, an independent point of view. The presence of this newspaper is not some sort of primal scream against the wicked empire of Murdoch. It is not to foment that The Advertiser, The Australian, The Sunday Mail and the various parts of Messenger have saturated the State with a mess of misinformation and jaundiced judgements. It is here simply because another viewpoint, another attitude, even another style can only help to stimulate and broaden our thinking. The one thing we can say about the information and views we bring is that they will be true to our name. They will be independent. This will not be a newspaper of dogma. We are not aligned with the Left or the Right, with business or unions. And, thank heavens, we will not take ourselves too seriously. We hope to share a little fun. ―But we will take the issues of our times seriously. We will try to look behind the daily headlines to analyse why they are happening, at the attitudes and influences that affect us. We will examine the way we are governed, at the sharp divisions between policy and populism… We hope, of course, to be provocative from time to time ... There is much to be discussed.‖ ―This sporting life The Independent Weekly will not be a great sporting paper – sporting, that is, in the sense of masses of previews and results and curious juxtapositioning of names and body parts... But we will look at sport as part of our culture, business and ethics…‖ Australian Newspaper History Group Newsletter No 30 December 2004 Page 2 Second issue The second issue went to press on Saturday evening, as – despite the views in the editorial above – the results of the AFL Grand Final could not be ignored. Three photographs of the winning Port Adelaide team were credited to Fairfax. See also ANHG 28.3 and 29.19; Mediaweek 27 September 2004, p.8; ―New player brings fresh competition‖ in the Australian, Media section, 16 Sept, p.19; and ―Broadsheet‘s promising start‖ in the Australian, Media section, 30 Sept 2004, p.19. Copies of the inaugural issue of The Independent Weekly are available from Victor Isaacs, [email protected] or 43 Lowanna St Braddon ACT 2612 for $3 (i.e., cost plus postage). 30.3 CHRIS ANDERSON ON MEDIA INFLUENCE Chris Anderson, former editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, and currently a board member of Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd, delivered the 2004 ABC Andrew Olle Media Lecture in Sydney on 29 October. Media proprietors in Australia, he said, by choice or otherwise, wielded far less influence now then they ever did. On the big issues, journalists and editors have more freedom to decide the content of their papers and programs than at any time in the postwar history of the media. He did not believe proprietors involved themselves in day-to- day coverage. Anderson queried media coverage of big issues, such as the election, in terms of personality contests. He wondered whether this was really what people wanted, in view of the high proportion of people who receive information and views form other sources. Anderson wondered if the current advertising boom could last forever, in view of the rise of the web. However, some trends can be continued with imagination, resources and supportive owners. In the last category, he wondered if anyone believed that programs such as Sunday/Business Sunday could be maintained without the support of the Packers or the Australian newspaper without the support of the Murdoch family. An edited extract of the lecture appeared in the Age, 2 November 2004, page 11. 30.4 FAIRFAX (1): BOARD REVAMPED The two-longest serving directors of John Fairfax Ltd., Sir Roderick Carnegie and David Gonski, resigned on 17 September 2004. On the same date, Joan Withers, former CEO of Radio Network of New Zealand, joined the Board. Ms Withers‘ appointment reflects Fairfax‘s now extensive NZ interests (SMH, Age, Australian, Canberra Times 18 Sept). 30.5 FAIRFAX (2): HILMER SELLS SHARES Fred Hilmer, who will conclude his term as chief executive officer of John Fairfax Holdings in 2005, has sold 2.8 million Fairfax shares at an average price of $3.7849 a share (about $10.6 million in all). He said he sold the shares as part of his personal financial planning and preparations for handover to a successor next year (Courier-Mail, 21 September 2004, p.25). At the final John Fairfax meeting for the year, on 2 December, choosing a successor for Hilmer was on the agenda, but no announcement was expected before Christmas (Australian, 2 December 2004, p.23).